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List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players

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WTA number 1 rankings since 1975

The WTA rankings are the Women's Tennis Association's (WTA) merit-based system for determining the rankings in women's tennis. The top-ranked singles player is the player who, over the previous 52 weeks, has garnered the most ranking points on the WTA Tour. Points are awarded based on how far a player advances in tournaments and the category of those tournaments. The WTA has used a computerized system for determining the rankings since November 3, 1975. Since 1975, 29 women have been ranked No. 1 in singles by the WTA, of which 16 have been year-end No. 1.

Aryna Sabalenka is the current singles world No. 1.

WTA No. 1 ranked singles players

The rankings are sourced by the WTA Media Guide and the WTA website (which usually revises its rankings every Sunday night or Monday morning, except when tournament finals are postponed).

No.PlayerStart dateEnd dateWeeksTotal1**{{sortnameChrisEvert}}**2**{{sortnameEvonneGoolagong Cawley}}**3**{{sortnameMartinaNavratilova}}**4**{{sortnameTracyAustin}}**5**{{sortnameSteffiGraf}}**6**{{sortnameMonicaSeles}}**7**{{sortnameArantxaSánchez Vicario}}**8**{{sortnameMartinaHingis}}**9**{{sortnameLindsayDavenport}}**10**{{sortnameJenniferCapriati}}**11**{{sortnameVenusWilliams}}**12**{{sortnameSerenaWilliams}}**13**{{sortnameKimClijsters}}**14**{{sortnameJustineHenin}}**15**{{sortnameAmélieMauresmo}}**16**{{sortnameMariaSharapova}}**17**{{sortnameAnaIvanovic}}**18**{{sortnameJelenaJanković}}**19**{{sortnameDinaraSafina}}**20**{{sortnameCarolineWozniacki}}**21**{{sortnameVictoriaAzarenka}}**22**{{sortnameAngeliqueKerber}}**23**{{sortnameKarolínaPlíšková}}**24**{{sortnameGarbiñeMuguruza}}**25**{{sortnameSimonaHalep}}**26**{{sortnameNaomiOsaka}}**27**{{sortnameAshleighBarty}}**28**{{sortnameIgaŚwiątek}}**29
2525
22
113138
2626
2140
430
7147
1040
11158
3171
22
1182
1921
76234
284
4238
156240
18256
2242
4260
90332
186186
2121
1187
122
3190
91113
87277
22
1278
68
5283
412
9292
64356
177
2358
1359
178
18377
8080
1717
21101
522
34135
527
1136
128
73209
33
1038
69
33
514
47
317
411
5757
1010
11
212
4445
55
4482
11
284
67
1498
719
3439
1156
714
61117
317
99
11
312
461
1718
1172
2525
274
126
49123
1818
120
4967
1919
421
3251
186309
2020
7316
525
3319
934
88
44
1616
471
4864
2121
77
425
2835
20
86121
7575
88
50125
Present****

Weeks at No. 1

Active players in bold.

No.PlayerWeeks
1GER Steffi Graf377
2Czechoslovakia/USA Martina Navratilova332
3USA Serena Williams319
4USA Chris Evert260
5SUI Martina Hingis209
6FR Yugoslavia/USA Monica Seles178
7POL Iga Świątek125
8AUS Ashleigh Barty121
9BEL Justine Henin117
10USA Lindsay Davenport98
11Aryna Sabalenka****
12DEN Caroline Wozniacki71
13ROU Simona Halep64
14BLR Victoria Azarenka51
15FRA Amélie Mauresmo39
16GER Angelique Kerber34
17RUS Dinara Safina26
18JPN Naomi Osaka25
19USA Tracy Austin21
RUS Maria Sharapova
21BEL Kim Clijsters20
22SER Jelena Janković18
23USA Jennifer Capriati17
24ESP Arantxa Sánchez Vicario12
SRB Ana Ivanovic
26USA Venus Williams11
27CZE Karolína Plíšková8
28ESP Garbiñe Muguruza4
29AUS Evonne Goolagong Cawley2

Consecutive

No.PlayerWeeks
1GER Steffi Graf186
USA Serena Williams
3USA Martina Navratilova156
4AUS Ashleigh Barty114
5USA Chris Evert113
6GER Steffi Graf (2)94
7FR Yugoslavia Monica Seles91
8USA Martina Navratilova (2)90
9GER Steffi Graf (3)87
10SUI Martina Hingis80
11USA Chris Evert (2)76
12POL Iga Świątek75
13SUI Martina Hingis (2)73
14Aryna Sabalenka****
15USA Monica Seles (2)64
16BEL Justine Henin61
17USA Serena Williams (2)57
18POL Iga Świątek (2)50
19USA Serena Williams (3)49
DEN Caroline Wozniacki
Current streak in bold.

|}

Weeks at No. 1 leaders timeline

Year spanLeaderBegin DateDurationRecord
1975–1985USA Chris Evert3 November 1975238
1985–1985USA Martina Navratilova27 May 1985240
1985–1986USA Chris Evert24 June 1985260
1986–1996USA Martina Navratilova31 March 1986332
1996–PresentGER Steffi Graf21 May 1996377

Current record in bold.

No. 1 leaders timeline

PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:150 left:35 AlignBars = late

Colors = id:On value:gray(0.8) legend: Duration until record id:record value:kelleygreen legend: Record held id:lightgrey value:gray(0.95) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8)

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:1975 till: TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:4 start:1975 grid:darkgrey ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1976 grid:lightgrey

Legend = columns:2 left:370 top:40 columnwidth:130

PlotData= width:10 align:left fontsize:M shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

bar:377 from: 17/08/1987 till: 21/05/1996 color:On text: from: 21/05/1996 till: color:record text:Steffi Graf bar:332 from: 10/07/1978 till: 31/03/1986 color:On text: from: 31/03/1986 till: 21/05/1996 color:record text:Martina Navratilova bar:260 from: 03/11/1975 till: 24/06/1985 color:On text: from: 24/06/1985 till: 31/03/1986 color:record text:Chris Evert bar:240 from: 10/07/1978 till: 27/05/1985 color:On text: from: 27/05/1985 till: 24/06/1985 color:record text:Martina Navratilova bar:238 from: 03/11/1975 till: 03/11/1975 color:On text: from: 03/11/1975 till: 27/05/1985 color:record text:Chris Evert

Year-end No. 1 players

Of the 29 women who have held the №1-ranking, only 16 women have been the Year-end №1-ranked player. Of those 16 women, only 7 have held the №1-ranking during the entirety of one calendar year, so all 52 weeks, Evert (2), Navratilova (3), Graf (5), Seles (1), S.Williams (2), Barty (2), and Sabalenka (1).

The source for this through to 2012 is the 2012 WTA Tour Official Guide, page 178.

YearPlayer
1975Chris Evert
1976USA Chris Evert (2)
1977*USA Chris Evert (3)
1978Martina Navratilova
1979USA Martina Navratilova (2)
1980USA Chris Evert (4)
1981*USA Chris Evert (5)
1982USA Martina Navratilova (3)
1983*USA Martina Navratilova (4)
1984*USA Martina Navratilova (5)
1985USA Martina Navratilova (6)
1986*USA Martina Navratilova (7)
1987Steffi Graf
1988*FRG Steffi Graf (2)
1989*FRG Steffi Graf (3)
1990*GER Steffi Graf (4)
1991Monica Seles
1992*YUG Monica Seles (2)
1993GER Steffi Graf (5)
1994*GER Steffi Graf (6)
1995GER Steffi Graf (7)
USA Monica Seles (3)
1996*GER Steffi Graf (8)
1997Martina Hingis
1998Lindsay Davenport
1999SUI Martina Hingis (2)

By year (continued)

YearPlayer
2000SUI Martina Hingis (3)
2001USA Lindsay Davenport (2)
2002Serena Williams
2003Justine Henin
2004USA Lindsay Davenport (3)
2005USA Lindsay Davenport (4)
2006BEL Justine Henin (2)
2007BEL Justine Henin (3)
2008Jelena Janković
2009USA Serena Williams (2)
2010Caroline Wozniacki
2011DEN Caroline Wozniacki (2)
2012Victoria Azarenka
2013USA Serena Williams (3)
2014*USA Serena Williams (4)
2015*USA Serena Williams (5)
2016Angelique Kerber
2017Simona Halep
2018ROU Simona Halep (2)
2019Ashleigh Barty
2020*AUS Ashleigh Barty (2)
2021*AUS Ashleigh Barty (3)
2022Iga Świątek
2023POL Iga Świątek (2)
2024Aryna Sabalenka
2025*Aryna Sabalenka (2)

|}

Per player

No.Total8754321
GER Steffi Graf
USA Martina Navratilova
USA Chris Evert
USA Serena Williams
USA Lindsay Davenport
YUG/USA Monica Seles
SUI Martina Hingis
BEL Justine Henin
AUS Ashleigh Barty
DEN Caroline Wozniacki
ROU Simona Halep
POL Iga Świątek
Aryna Sabalenka
SRB Jelena Janković
BLR Victoria Azarenka
GER Angelique Kerber
No.Consecutive5432
USA Martina Navratilova
GER Steffi Graf (x2)
USA Chris Evert
USA Serena Williams
AUS Ashleigh Barty
USA Martina Navratilova
USA Chris Evert
YUG Monica Seles
SUI Martina Hingis
USA Lindsay Davenport
BEL Justine Henin
DEN Caroline Wozniacki
ROU Simona Halep
POL Iga Świątek
Aryna Sabalenka

|}

Players who became No. 1 before having won a major tournament

PlayerFirst ranked No. 1First Grand Slam finalFirst Grand Slam title
BEL Kim ClijstersAugust 11, 20032001 French Open (June 2001) (1st of 8)2005 US Open (1st of 4, retired in 2022)
FRA Amélie MauresmoSeptember 13, 20041999 Australian Open (January 1999) (1st of 3)2006 Australian Open (1st of 2, retired in 2009)
SRB Jelena JankovićAugust 11, 20082008 US Open (September 2008) (only final)None (retired in 2017)
RUS Dinara SafinaApril 20, 20092008 French Open (June 2008) (1st of 3)None (retired in 2014)
DEN Caroline WozniackiOctober 11, 20102009 US Open (September 2009) (1st of 3)2018 Australian Open (only title)
CZE Karolína PlíškováJuly 17, 20172016 US Open (September 2016) (1st of 2)None (still active)
ROU Simona HalepOctober 9, 20172014 French Open (June 2014) (1st of 5)2018 French Open (1st of 2, retired in 2025)

Time span between first and last dates No. 1 was held

  • Active players and age records indicated in bold.
Time spanPlayerFirst held No. 1Last held No. 1DateAgeDateAge
Jul 8, 2002May 14, 2017****
Nov 3, 1975Nov 24, 1985
Aug 17, 1987Mar 30, 1997
Jul 10, 1978Aug 16, 1987
Aug 11, 2003Feb 20, 2011
Oct 11, 2010Feb 25, 2018
Oct 12, 1998Jan 29, 2006
Aug 22, 2005Jul 8, 2012
Mar 11, 1991Nov 24, 1996
Oct 20, 2003May 18, 2008
Mar 31, 1997****Oct 14, 2001
Jun 24, 2019Apr 3, 2022
Apr 4, 2022Oct 20, 2024
Sep 11, 2023
Sep 13, 2004Nov 12, 2006
Oct 9, 2017Jan 27, 2019
Jan 30, 2012Feb 17, 2013
Sep 12, 2016Jul 16, 2017
Oct 15, 2001Jun 9, 2002
Apr 7, 1980Nov 17, 1980
Jan 28, 2019Sep 8, 2019
Apr 20, 2009Nov 1, 2009
Aug 11, 2008Feb 1, 2009
Feb 25, 2002Jul 7, 2002
Feb 6, 1995Jun 11, 1995
Jun 9, 2008Sep 7, 2008
Jul 17, 2017Sep 10, 2017
Sep 11, 2017Oct 8, 2017
Apr 26, 1976May 9, 1976

Weeks at No. 1 by decade

  • Current No. 1 player indicated in italic.

1970s*

  • — Starting November 1975

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

WTA rankings were frozen from March 23, 2020 to August 9, 2020.

  • Stats are automatically updated on Mondays (UTC).

Weeks at No. 1 by country

  • Current No. 1 player indicated in bold.
WeeksCountryPlayers
1,123Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Tracy Austin, Monica Seles*, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Venus Williams, Serena Williams
411Steffi Graf, Angelique Kerber
209Martina Hingis
143SFR Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro/SRB Yugoslavia/SerbiaMonica Seles*, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Janković
137Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin
126Victoria Azarenka, Aryna Sabalenka
125Iga Świątek
123Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Ashleigh Barty
71Caroline Wozniacki
64Simona Halep
47Maria Sharapova, Dinara Safina
39Amélie Mauresmo
25Naomi Osaka
16Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Garbiñe Muguruza
8Karolína Plíšková
  • Monica Seles is included twice due to change of citizenship.}}

Notes

References

References

  1. (November 5, 2024). "Aryna Sabalenka and Katerina Siniakova secure WTA Year-End No.1 rankings".
  2. "2012 WTA Media Guide".
  3. "WTA Singles Rankings".
  4. (26 June 1996). "Seles is back in the limelight". [[The Irish Times]].
  5. (1 March 2022). "Joint Statement by the International Governing Bodies of Tennis".
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